Scientists discover new ‘quasi-moon’ orbiting Earth after decades of hiding

In a recent breakthrough, astronomers have discovered a new “quasi-moon” that has been orbiting Earth after decades of being unnoticed.

The quasi-moon named 2025 PN7 was detected by the Pan-STARRS observatory in Hawaii on August 2. After days of observations , the researchers find that the cosmic rock has been lurking around Earth for 60 years.

Carlos de la Fuente Marcos of the Complutense University of Madrid, the study co-author said, “In the case of approval of a newly detected asteroid, it would become the part of seven other known quasi-moons orbiting around Earth as they are full of surprises.”

According to a study that was published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society, “2025 PN7 is the "smallest and the least stable known quasi-satellite of Earth among all the known cosmic rocks.”

The asteroid consists of a width of 19 meters, which is slightly smaller than the meteor that exploded over Chelyabinsk in 2013. The rock also possessed a brightness of magnitude 26 and can only be seen through good telescopes due to high magnitude.

The quasi-moon was first reported by French journalist and amateur astronomer Adrien Coffinet who posted calculations on the Minor Planet Mailing List.

"2025 PN7 seems to be a quasi-satellite of the Earth for the next 60 years," Coffinet said.

Quasi-moons are “like a gravitational sleight of hand,” according to the Planetary Society. These are rocks that orbit Earth like the Moon.